Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform using the Simple Install method
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Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform using the Simple Install method

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Article ID: 301686

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Updated On:

Products

VMware

Issue/Introduction

This article provides step-by-step guidance for upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 using the Simple Install method.
This article assumes that:
  • You have performed a backup of all of the vSphere components.
  • You have met all minimum software and hardware requirements for vSphere 5.5. For more information, see the System Requirements section in the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide.

    Notes:


  • You have upgraded all other VMware products in the correct order.

    Note: vCloud Director, vCloud Networking and Security, and Horizon View products must be upgraded before upgrading vCenter Server. For more information, see Update sequence for vSphere 5.5 and its compatible VMware products (2057795).

  • You have configured both a forward and reverse lookup zone for this Microsoft Windows Server. For more information on configuring reverse lookup zones in a Microsoft Active Directory domain, see the Microsoft TechNet article Adding a Reverse Lookup Zone.
  • If you plan to authenticate against Active Directory, you have joined your Microsoft Windows server to the domain. For more information, see the Microsoft TechNet article How to Join Your Computer to a Domain.

    Note: The preceding link was correct as of September 19, 2013. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

  • If you plan to run the VMware VirtualCenter Server service as a user other than the local system account, the account is already created and has local administrator access.
  • You have decided not to distribute the vCenter services across multiple Windows servers.
  • You have decided to use an existing database.


Resolution

Upgrade steps for Simple Install of vCenter Server 5.5

  1. Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media. The installation wizard appears.
  2. In the left pane, click Simple Install and then click Install.

    Known Issue:
    Note    : If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.

  3. In the welcome screen, Click Next. If a previous version of vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO) is installed, you see this message in the welcome screen:

    An earlier version of vCenter Single Sign-On is already installed on this computer and will be upgraded to vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5.0.

  4. Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option, and click Next.
  5. Review the Prerequisites check screen and then click Next. The installer notifies that a previous version is detected and that Users, Groups, Solution Users, and Lookup Service artifacts will be migrated.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Provide a password for the SSO administrator user and click Next.

    Note: This dialog shows information related to a domain by the name vsphere.local. This is not a domain that is auto-detected within the existing environment, but a net new domain used internally by vSphere. The [email protected] account performs the same function as the admin@System-Domain account in previous versions of vSphere.

    For more information about the [email protected] account, see the vSphere Software Components section of the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.

  8. Provide a site name and then click Next.

    Note: The site name is used in environments where there are SSO servers in multiple sites. Ensure to select this name carefully because it cannot be changed in the vSphere Web Client after the installation completes.
  9. Optionally, provide an alternative installation location and then click Next.

    Known Issue:

    Notes:
    • The installation path of vCenter Server must be compatible with the installation requirements for Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM/AD LDS). The installation path cannot contain non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).
    • The path must conform to NTFS naming restrictions. For more information, see the Microsoft TechNet article Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces.
    • The installation requires 100 GB of disk space to be available. For more information, see the Hardware Requirement for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On section in the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide.
  1. In the confirmation screen, click Install to start the installation.

    Known Issue:

    Note: The vSphere Web Client configuration information is automatically imported and updated to vCenter Server 5.5 via the Simple Install operation. This automated process completes at the installation of the vCenter Inventory Service.

  2. Select one of these options when presented with a database re-initialization warning:

    • Keep my existing database – Select this option to retain your existing data in the vCenter Inventory Service.
    • Replace my existing database – Select this option to replace the existing database. You must acknowledge that a backup of the Inventory Service database and SSL certificates has been performed.

  3. Click Next.
  4. In the Ready to Install screen, click Install.
  5. In the license key screen, enter your license key and then click Next.

    Note:You can view your license keys in Customer Connect. For more information, see Viewing license keys in Customer Connect (2006831). If you do not enter a license key, you can proceed with a 60 Day Evaluation license and you see a popup, which prompts you to acknowledge that you are proceeding without a license.

  6. Enter the database user name and password for the existing database when prompted and click Next.

    Note: If previous extensions were registered with vCenter Server, a dialog appears displaying the extensions that will no longer work after the upgrade. Click OK to proceed.

  7. When presented with a database upgrade warning, select one of these options, as appropriate, and click Next:

    • Upgrade the existing vCenter Server database.

      Note: You must acknowledge that a backup of the vCenter Server database and SSL certificates is taken.
      • For more information about backing up the vCenter Server database, see the best practices documentation from the database vendor.
      • For more information on backing up vCenter Server SSL certificates, see the Best Practices for vCenter Server Upgrades section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.

    • Do not upgrade the existing vCenter Server database.

  8. Select if you want to automatically or manually upgrade the vCenter Agents that are installed on ESXi hosts.
  9. Select the user type that the vCenter Server should run with and click Next. You can use one of these options:
    • Use Windows Local System Account
    • Use an alternate account

  10. Optionally, provide alternative TCP port numbers.

    Note: Changing the default ports is recommended only if you have an unchangeable port conflict in the same system.

  11. Select one of these JVM memory sizes depending on the environment requirements:

    • Small (less than 100 hosts or 1000 virtual machines)
    • Medium (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines)
    • Large (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines)

  12. Click Next.
  13. In the Ready to Install screen, click Install.

    Known Issue:

  14. When the installation completes, click Finish.

Post upgrade of vCenter Server 5.5

After upgrading vCenter Server 5.5:



Additional Information

How to view license keys in Customer Connect
After making a change or restarting vCenter Single Sign-On server system, vCenter Server 5.1.x fails to start
Update sequence for vSphere 5.5 and its compatible VMware products
Upgrading to vSphere Update Manager 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform
Enabling Microsoft SQL Clustering Service for VMware vCenter Server 5.5 database and later
Upgrade from vSphere 5.1 to vSphere 5.5 rolls back after importing Lookup Service data
Installing vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 fails if the password for [email protected] contains certain special character
Installing vCenter Single Sign-On fails when installing Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package prerequisite with the error: Error Code 3010
シンプル インストールを使用して Microsoft Windows プラットフォームで vCenter Server 5.5 にアップグレードする
在 Microsoft Windows 平台上使用“简单安装”方法升级到 vCenter Server 5.5

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